Originally Posted by
DontLookDown
Drone airliners in 15 years?? Lmao.
I remember back in the early 2000’s when the FAA said they were overhauling the NAS as part of a project called NextGen. I think originally they said it should be complete by around 2010.
Now they’re saying 2025.
It will end up being 2030.
Nothing moves quick in a heavily regulated safety first industry like aviation. Drone airlines won’t be a factor for anyone reading this forum right now.
This. No way could automated airliners be built at a reasonable cost yet... it could probably be done but pilots are still far cheaper than some kind of combined Manhattan project/moon shot. Even if they could build them, they can't certify or insure them without massive changes in infrastructure and regulation. Then there's political and PR hurdles.
It's still a good time to be a student pilot, you can probably get discounts in training if you play your cards right, plus fuel should be cheaper for at least a year. By the time you're ready for the airlines the economy will likely have snapped back to something more normal... and while the economy might take a time out, the retirements will not.